Olympus VG-170: New flagship for VG-series

Next up in Olympus CES announcements is Olympus VG-170, which assumes the top spot in the VG-series for European-market buyers; in the US that honor falls on the VG-160.

The VG-170 is a 14 megapixel camera with a 5x optical zoom lens that offers up a 26mm wide angle, in a slim 0.9-inch thick body. The VG-170 is notable for what Olympus is describing as "roughly four times more powerful than its nearest rival", with a guide number of 8.8. A few other key features include a 3.0-inch LCD display, 720p movie capture, shadow adjustment technology, a Beauty mode that smooths skin tones, and an anaglyph (red/cyan) 3D photo mode.

In Europe, the Olympus VG-170 ships from mid-February, priced at around €100. More details are in our Olympus VG-170 preview.

Press Release

Hamburg, 10 January 2012 – Plenty of compact cameras promise to make your world brighter, but only the Olympus VG-170 has the best-in-class flash to back up that claim. The flash on the new VG Series flagship has nearly twice the range of a regular compact camera, which means it can light up faces and objects up to fully 15 metres away. In Long Flash Mode, it'll even automatically adjust ISO sensitivity to make sure your camera is set up just right for low light. It's this sort of practical, user-friendly feature that makes the VG Series a pleasure to use on a day-to-day basis, no matter how little you know about cameras. Compact, convenient and fantastic value for money, the top-of-the-range VG-170 is the perfect choice for anyone who just wants to point and shoot – and let their camera do the rest. With 14 Megapixels, a 5x wide optical zoom, big 3" LCD and a host of automatic features and effects, you can be sure you'll get a quality photo or movie every time. With its slim, stylish body and sturdy retro design, the VG-170 could be mistaken for a high-end camera, but there's nothing high-end about the price. It's available for a mouth-watering €99 and it'll be in the shops from the middle of February.

Matchless flash
The flash is the most commonly used function on compact cameras*, so it's surprising how little attention it gets. A great flash can make a huge difference to the quality of your photos – in low light, it's often the difference between getting the shot you want and getting no shot at all. The flash on the new Olympus VG-170 is massive, especially for an inexpensive camera. It's roughly four times more powerful than its nearest rival, which means it has twice the range (the VG-170's guide number is 8.8 compared to 4 to 5.6 for regular digital compacts). The VG-170 can light up people or buildings fully 15 metres away on the wide-angle setting. What's more, in Long Flash Mode, the camera automatically trades off Megapixels against ISO sensitivity to give you the perfect light setting. At five Megapixels instead of the usual 14, you can still blow up your photo to A4 size without losing that trademark Olympus picture quality.

Effortless imaging
The VG-170 comes with a 5x wide optical zoom lens (26mm-130mm**) that gives you the flexibility you need in a variety of everyday situations. Whether you're zooming in for a close-up or taking a wider, more expansive scene, you can frame your shot quickly and easily on the big 3" LCD. If you have wobbly hands, Digital Image Stabilisation steadies the camera while a host of automatic aids like i-Auto, Face Detection and AF Tracking make sure you have the ideal settings for the conditions. You don't have to do a thing. Your photos come out bright and sharp and your movies are recorded in High Definition, which makes for great viewing on a big HD TV. You can even display 3D photos on regular TVs, computers or digital photo frames – simply by turning on the new Red & Cyan 3D feature before you take the picture. If you want to get creative on-camera, there's a choice of nine Magic Filter effects that work at the touch of a button. And if you like sharing your images online with family and friends, that's just as easy as everything else on the VG-170. Thanks to wireless Eye-Fi card compatibility, it's also cable-free.

The VG-170 is available for €99 from mid-February in black, white or red.